The Last War: Chapter 375.

[Bernard Woolley]

With thanks to Jotun.

*

D+29

*

2001 hours GMT. Alexandroupolis, Thrace, Greece.
General Humphrey-Smith was on a whistle stop tour of the threatened areas in Thrace. Wanting to see for himself how things were on the ground. As well as checking in with one of his principle subordinates, Commander Allied Land Forces South-Central Europe. COMLANDSOUTHCENT had the Greek 1st Army and the Turkish 1st and 4th Armies under his command. Which meant he was in charge of the land battle for Thrace.

CINCSOUTH had advised Humphrey-Smith that the Spanish 1st Armoured Division was being diverted to reinforce his command. As was an unspecified American mechanised division. In the meantime, he had released parts of the AFSOUTH Amphibious force. COMSOUTHEAST had timed his visit to Alexandroupolis to witness the arrival of the French 9e Division d'Infanterie de Marine. Four French amphibious ships, Ouragan (L9021), Orage (L9022), Foudre (L9011) and Siroco (L9012), were rapidly unloading troops and equipment. [1]

Once ashore and formed up, the division would relieve the Greek XII Infantry Division in the front-line. Allowing that division a period of rest and reorganisation. To the east the American 6th Marine Expeditionary Brigade was coming ashore. It would move north, reinforcing the NATO defenders at Keşan. [2]

On his way from Alexandroupoli Airport to the seaport, COMSOUTHEAST had seen evidence that the Hellenic Army were preparing to defend the city should the enemy break through. Alexandroupolis did had defences as part of the Metaxas Line Command - Eastern Zone. Though, they were not as extensive as they had once been. Now new defences were being dug and old, neglected, or abandoned ones were being refurbished. A mix of civilian and military labour, directed by army engineers, was hard at work. Bright yellow civilian back-hoes digging alongside drab green army bulldozers. The defences would be manned by members of the Greek National Guard along with some army reservists. [3]

*

Humphrey-Smith and the commander of the French division strolled casually along the quayside as equipment was unloaded. Their staffs and close protection personnel following.

“How long until you are ready to deploy?” COMSOUTHEAST wondered.

The experienced marsouin officer considered the question for a moment.

“No more than twelve hours, Sir.” He said. “With some hard work, I’m sure my marsouins can shave some time off that. We have a date with the enemy we don’t want to miss.” He added with a grin.
“That’s’ the sort of enthusiasm I want to hear.” Humphrey-Smith replied.

A distant thunder like sound caused both men to stop and look towards the northeast. It was drowned out a moment later by a trio of AMX-30B2 Brenus driving past.

“I’m counting on you, General.” COMSOUTHEAST said once the tanks were gone. “The Soviets can’t be allowed to cut the main highway, or worse, break through to this port.”

2131 hours GMT. German Embassy, SCIF facility, Tehran, Republic of Iran.
Four men were sitting or standing around a table that had more computers, hard disk docking stations, USB ports and cables on it than you could shake a small forest’s worth of sticks at.
One of the men was obviously a soldier, a tall, sinewy Oberstleutnant whose class A uniform bore the crest of the KSO, another of the men also had a military demeanour and bearing but wore a civilian suit. He was the defence attaché and a rear admiral of the Bundesmarine. Another one, also approaching middle age, looked a bit less well put together but as the senior representative of West German spookdom – he was the equivalent of a full colonel in the BND – he opined that it was a tertiary concern. The fourth man was also of the BND, a mid-level officer of the technical branch who held master’s degrees in space and aeronautical engineering – obtained at the Bundeswehr University in Munich – and one in computer science, which he had finished in his free time after completion of BND technical officer training. He was the primary person who had delved into the contents of the various storage media.

It was the junior man in the group whose opinion it was the other three sought.
“So, Mr. Struve, what is your verdict about all this?”

The defence attaché swept his arm over the assortment of information tech arrayed on the table in an all-encompassing gesture.

“This is a veritable cornucopia of – seemingly - white-hot information. Not just the technical stuff, if I am getting right what Oberstleutnant Corvey is telling us.”

He nodded at the army officer who after serving as a commando platoon leader and then a company commander in the KSO had been transferred to the KSA, the Strategic Reconnaissance Command of the Bundeswehr, as a senior intelligence analyst for terrorism and irregular warfare. He had been basically ripped from his office near Bonn, put on a plane and sent to Tehran after the first information of the contents of the defector’s documents had reached the government. He had been in country for all of twelve hours.

“Absolutely.” The soldier answered calmly. “The accounts of Soviet disinformation, asymmetric warfare, espionage and outright destabilization that the defector very much seems to have been a part of are highly interesting, and I want to believe it since several of the operations Schumacher describes or rather their results actually ring a bell with me, but can we be certain he isn’t a Soviet plant, some sort of…,” he broke off and made an aimless gesture, “…you know what I mean…”

He shrugged. It had been a very long day and night for him.

The analyst piped up.

“I have been in TECHINT of all sorts for almost twenty years now, first at the KSA predecessor and then at the BND, and all of this looks like the real deal to me. I have verified several of the technical documents after selecting them purely at random, and they check out, in my not so humble opinion. I am so certain that I am willing to go on a limb and state that I would very much bet lives on it.
“Consider this: The Backfire incident took place what, five, six days ago? And the explosion at Raduga - which fits the Backfire incident like a glove – was three days ago. Nobody, not us – heh fat fucking chance of THAT, not the Brits, not the Amis and also not the thrice-damned Russkies, can throw together a disinformation package of this magnitude and intricacy in that amount of time. It is impossible. I say all this is real, and we should act on it yesterday! Anything else would be criminal neglect. Do we have somebody who is sitting in on the debriefing of the defector, come to think of it?”
“Yes, we do.” The defence attaché answered. “The same plane that had Oberstleutnant Corvey on it also held a military and criminal psychologist and interrogation expert.”
“Oh, I know him.” Corvey grunted, half amused. “He was in charge of the complete psych eval for the KSO selection process for over a decade. He is an absolute expert at reading people. He is so good, in fact, that he could work as a stage mentalist.” He went silent for a moment, reflective. “As can be expected, the Americans, the Brits and the French are all over this, and as usual, we would only see the crumbs of the goings-on at their table, but Schumacher made it an unnegotiable condition that we, that is, the Federal Republic, take the lead in the debriefing.
“He is a Volga German by birth and wants to live in our part of Germany. Why do you think we got first dibs on copying the original data carriers? Otherwise, the Americans would sit on them, fat, dumb and happy.”
“Alright, then, here is what we are going to do.” The defence attaché decided. “You are going to copy all the data we have available, in triplicate, and the data storage devices are going to the BND, the KSA and directly to the DoD. By armed couriers. We’ll have to shanghai a few of the BGS close protection guys for that, but since we are comparatively safe here, it should be doable. I am certain that the collective Allied involved in this are doing the same exact thing as we speak.”

2241 hours GMT. The Main Line of Resistance, ROK.
The North Koreans were nothing if not persistent. While A Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment (Light) had been out of the line, they had been relatively quiet. However, within hours of the company returning, the North Koreans had launched a series of attacks on its forward positions.

With CFC forces becoming ever more effective with its counter-battery fire, there had not been the usual artillery barrage that had in the past given warning of a North Korean attack. They had also learned that troop concentrations and vehicles attracted heavy artillery fire and air strikes. So, instead they had infiltrated small groups of soldiers to within twenty meters of the forward American outposts. Without sophisticated night vision equipment, they had waited until it had started to get light.

*

Along with the rest of A Company, 1st Lieutenant Hathaway’s platoon had been stood to while it was still dark. Meaning they were in place in their fighting positions when the North Koreans began their attack. The first warnings came from Observation Posts on the forward slopes, who had time to transmit urgent warnings before finding themselves under attack. The soldiers in the O.Ps did not hang around, firing a few shots and throwing grenades to cover their rapid retreat.

“Watch out for friendlies coming in!” Hathaway shouted to his platoon; a shout taken up across the squads.

The two men he had positioned forward of his platoon came scrambling up the communications trench. Stumbling and falling into the bottom of the trench linking the platoon’s fighting positions. Staff Sergeant Hammond dragged them to their feet and led them to the Command Post.

“The NorKs are right behind us, LT!” One of the men said, rather breathlessly.
“Well, they haven’t caught you, Dewey.” Hathaway replied. “Go back to your squads.”
“Time for flares, LT?” Hammon ask.

Hathaway nodded. While the sky was starting to get grey, the contrast between it and the darkness of the ground made it hard for the human eye to adjust between the two. The platoon did have night vision devices, but flares would potentially light up the battlefield fully.

*

“Aw, crap.” Captain Captain D’agostini muttered as he saw what the bursting flared his forward platoons had fired.

The showed the full horror of what his company faced. At least a battalion of North Korean infantrymen were advancing on A Company. He could see flashes of gunfire and the occasional Javelin missile being fired at the North Koreans.

“Get the company mortars on the Norks now!” He ordered his Mortar Fire Controller. “And request fire support from battalion; mortars, artillery, air support; whatever they can spare.”

*

Lieutenant Hathaway flinched as a Javelin ATGW was fired nearby. The North Koreans had not brought any armoured vehicles with them, so far, so the gunners of the three Javelins attached to the platoon were firing at enemy infantry. Some of Hathaway’s soldiers were also firing the M72A6 variant of the LAW rocket.
The North Koreans were firing back with small arms and Rocket Propelled Grenades. Caught out in the open, they were suffering heavy casualties. While the well dug in US infantrymen were relatively safe. As the North Koreans closed in, pushing through a defensive barrage of artillery and mortar fire, the Americans began to throw hand grenades. A few managed to make it to the platoon’s fighting positions, only to be shot or bayoneted at short range.

Suddenly, multiple bugles sounded and within moments the North Korean soldiers vanished. The survivors melting away into the countryside.

“All stations, all stations. Cease fire! Cease fire!” Hathaway said into his field phone.

He heard the order being repeated up and down the line, punctuated by a few ragged shots. Hathaway took a deep breath. It looked like the assault was over. However, over the next few hours, the North Koreans would mount a series of large and small attacks on the American positions. Although, none would get as close to the forward positions as the first attack.

2351 hours GMT. Edirne, Eastern Thrace, Turkey.
Soviet and Bulgarian artillery pounded the city, targeting transport infrastructure, supply dumps and the positions of reserve units. The Turkish and Greek defenders had done their best to hide anything important, but it was inevitable that the attackers would hit some of what they were targeting.

Deciding that there were more important things to deal with to the south, the Soviets had given the Bulgarian 7th Motor Rifle Division the job of reducing the defenders of Edirne. A few Soviet artillery battalions had been attached to the division, but other than that, it was an all-Bulgarian operation.

The 12th Motorised Rifle Regiment was doing its best to push through the outer defences to the northwest of Edirne and was discovering that it was not as easy as its commander had hoped. Its BTR-80s could not get close enough to the defenders’ positions, many of them getting stuck in ditches, or other natural features. Meaning that the motor riflemen had to make a longer approach on foot. The tank battalion’s T-72s were doing their best to provide support, but even they were finding it hard going. The Turks having dug anti-tank ditches and liberally planted anti-tank mines to enhance the existing terrain.

*

Eri Arap was tired, a state of exhaustion that sleep did little to alleviate. Not that he was sleeping much. The siege of Edirne had been going on for seven days, but it already seemed to the defenders that it had been going on for a lifetime. Arap and his Greek No.2 had only been out of the front-line for a few hours over the last few days and were subsisting on cold rations. Despite the hardships, Arap’s morale and that of the other defenders was still generally high. They knew that they were tying down troops that might otherwise be used elsewhere.

Arap was struggling to keep his eyes open when he was suddenly brough to full wakefulness by a flare shooting up into the air and bursting. Lighting up the battlefield like it was midday. An unfortunate Bulgarian motor rifleman had set off a flare attached to a trip wire. Other flares were fired, adding to the illumination and catching a battalion of Bulgarian troops in front of the position that Arap’s company was occupying. He did not need to wait for his platoon commander’s order and pulled back on the trigger of his M1919A4 machine-gun. Tracer fire sought out the enemy, cutting down many Bulgarians before they could seek cover. Other machine-guns and rifles opened fire, soon joined by mortar and artillery fire. The NATO defenders were sparing with the latter, so the barrages were short.

Elsewhere in the line, the Bulgarian attackers were able to penetrate the first line of defences and push towards the second line. However, the Turkish defenders mounted a counterattack supported by a platoon of four M60T tanks. The Bulgarians were pushed back beyond the first line, toward their start-line. As the Turks re-occupied the outer defences, some Bulgarian T-72s attempted to intervene, leading to a sharp engagement that saw four Bulgarian tanks rapidly knocked out and one M60T disabled.

“Barrel is getting hot.” Arap’s Number two, a Greek Stratiotis named Phillip warned.
“I see it.” Arap replied. “We’ll fire off this last belt, then let the gun cool.”

Without a quick-change barrel, there was a very real danger of ammunition cooking off. Heating the barrel further, leading to viscous circle. Gunners were trained to fire in short four round bursts to stave off barrel heating, but in a prolonged engagement it was inevitable. Fortunately, with the Bulgarians in full retreat, Arap could cease firing and let his machine-gun cool.

Around an hour after the attack had been beaten off there were some flashes in the distance followed by the dull ‘boom’ of explosions. Over the sound of those explosions, the NATO defenders heard the unmistakeable sound of low-flying turboprop aircraft passing overhead. The aircraft, whatever they were disappeared to the south. The sound fading as the distant explosions also petered out.

“That was a supply drop!” Arap’s platoon commander reported a few minutes later. “The explosions were the air force covering it. Battalion says that ammo and food was included in the drop.”

Arap and Phillip smiled at the news. Edirne might be under siege, but they were not alone.


***

D+30

*

0531 hours GMT, 22nd May. Near Lund, Sweden.
Premierløjtnant Lisbeth Bechfeldt climbed down from the commander’s hatch of her Centurion Mk.5/2DK. Wiping her hands to get the worst of the grease she had picked up from cleaning the machine-gun by the hatch. Bechfelt had recently arrived in southern Sweden along with a group of army reservists. Like the rest of the soldiers in her group, she had served in a Centurion unit in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Putting most of them in their late thirties, or early forties. Bechfelt herself had served in the 1st Centurion Squadron of the Sjællandske Livregiment, being one of the first group of women to serve in combat units after successful trials between 1985 to 1986. [4]

*

The tank units in the 3rd Zealand Brigade, which had been formed from a number of Danish units that had escaped from Zealand to southern Sweden, were using a variety of tanks. Leopard 2A5DK and Centurion Mk.5/2DK that had been driven over the bridge to Sweden, along with Swedish supplied Stridsvagn 121 (Leopard 2) and Stridsvagn 104 (Centurion). The latter, before Sweden had joined NATO, had been given a hasty repaint to try to disguise their origins. [5]
The Danes were now in the process of re-equipping and reorganising parts of the brigade in preparation for the eventual liberation of Zealand. Twenty Centurions had been pulled from long-term storage and sent with the reservists to Sweden. Allowing the re-formation of two tank squadrons. Two companies of M113s and infantry reservists had also been found. The intention was to allow for the Composite Mechanised Battalion to be returned to its original formation – the 1st Battalion, Sjællandske Livregiment and the 1st (Centurion) Squadron, Gardehusarregimentet used to allow the 2nd/3rd Battalion, Den Kongelige Livgarde to be split into two battalion sized units. [6]

*

“Hard at work eh, Lisbeth?” A familiar voice asked.

Bechfeldt turned to see the commander of 1st (Centurion) Squadron, Gardehusarregimentet, Kaptajn Kim Sørensen, smiling at her.

“Well, someone has to show you guys from the Gardehusarregimentet how to put in a day’s work, Sir.” She replied, chuckling. Her troop all being reservists who had served with the Sjællandske Livregiment. “Is there any news?”

Sørensen shook his head.

“Nothing yet, I’m afraid. I know your guys and the Home Guardsmen especially, are itching to get back onto Zealand, but you know as much as I do.”
“Just to check, the enemy has T-64 and T-72 tanks?” Bechfeldt asked.

This time the squadron commander nodded his head.

“Afraid so. Intel is that they have a single composite motor rifle division, formed from the two they tried to land. Their Naval Infantry also has a battalion of T-72s and the airborne has a lot of BMD type light armour.”
“Well, I hope we can leave those tanks to the Leo 2 boys. Unless…we’re getting some of those American DU rounds?” Bechfeldt asked hopefully.
“I wish!” Sørensen exclaimed. “The Swedes are iffy about anything that relates to Uranium outside of the power industry. We’ll have to make to with Tungsten. There are always ways to take out heavier tanks if we use the right tactics.”

Bechfeldt snorted and smiled.

“Well, Sir, I invite you to demonstrate those tactics if we do encounter any heavy Soviet tanks.”

Sørensen chucked.

“Very funny, Lisbeth. Let’s just hope we don’t encounter too many T-72s!”

0545 hours GMT. Over Stade, FRG.
The small grey jet circled in a racetrack pattern centred on the city of Stade. From a distance it would look like a BAe.125, or the more recent Hawker 800 bizjet. The observer might be mistaken into thinking it was an RAF CC.3 variant, or perhaps a Dominie T.2. Although, it was the wrong colour. However, a close examination would reveal a number of ‘hockey stick’ and blade antennae on the wings and fuselage. The informed observer would thus realise that the aircraft was in fact a Dominie E.3. [7]

*

Four Dominie E.3 had entered service at the beginning of 2003 to supplement the Jetstream E.4 in the electronic calibration role. Rather than being new aircraft, the MoD had bought second hand Hawker 800 aircraft, which had been converted to the new role at Broughton, with the electronics installed at Warton. The aircraft gained an increased wingspan, curved cockpit glazing and increased fuel capacity. Once they had entered service with 115 Squadron, the quartet of aircraft were soon seen carrying out their role, spending a lot of time orbiting MoD owned airfields. However, in reality, rather than being an electronic calibration aircraft, the E.3 was in fact a small ELINT/SIGINT platform. It explained, for example, why RAF Gatow seemed to need its radio and radar landing aids calibrated so often. Moreover, the RAF seemed often to be contracted to do the same task for the other airports in the city. And why other RAF Dominie navigation trainers and BAe.125 CC.3 were frequent visitors to Berlin. Or at least some of those visits were by those aircraft. Others were by Dominie E.3s painted to look like their siblings. Whether the Soviets and East Germans were fooled by these subterfuges was not known. Though, they had never bothered the aircraft or objected to their presence.

*

After the outbreak of war, the Dominie E.3 had no longer been able to carry out its role clandestinely. Instead, it was being used as a tactical ELINT/SIGINT platform in support of NORTHAG. At least one aircraft was airborne at all times. There had been a few close calls from enemy fighters and long-range SAM, but the Dominie had demonstrated its agility and that it possessed sophisticated ECM. A single E.3 had been moved north to provide support for the Dutch and West German corps as they prepared to launch Operation COBALT. It was sucking in Warsaw Pact ELINT/SIGINT information and transmitting it to terminals on the ground. Where the intelligence would be interpreted. One of the things that the small RAF jet had picked up were indications of a Forward Operating Base being used by East German ‘Hind’ attack helicopters to the northeast of Hamburg. Right along the axis of advance for COBALT. Such as threat could not be allowed to remain.

*

Hauptmann Günter Bock limped towards his Mi-24VM, wondering if he luck was finally beginning to change. During the 2nd Battle of Berlin (as it was now being called) he had been shot down twice. The second time had left him badly injured, with pins in his left leg. However, such as the need for attack helicopter pilots, that the NVA had declared him fit for service fairly soon after he was able to walk again.

Bock limped around the helicopter, checking all was well with its rotors and various control surfaces, and that the weapons were loaded correctly. Satisfied he clambered into the cockpit, grunting in discomfort as he did so, and started the pre-flight checklist with his gunner.

*

The four Luftwaffe Alpha Jets of 2 Staffel, Jagdbombergeschwader 41 had launched from their forward airfield half an hour ago. Assigned to an armed reconnaissance mission, they had been diverted when the NVA FOB had been identified.
At the start of the war, the Luftwaffe had initially sent out its Alpha Jets in pairs, hoping to use them in a sort of airborne ‘guerilla war’ role. That had been abandoned within 48 hours, when it had proven to be too costly. A switch had been made to sending out six to eight aircraft at once, with at least a pair in each formation being armed with AIM-9L to provide greater protection against enemy fighters. Losses had fallen noticeably but had not ceased. So that now most units were putting formation of four to six jets into the air at a time. In the particular formation in question, two Alpha Jets were armed with SNEB rocket pods and BL755 cluster bombs, while the other pair had Sidewinders. All four had a single cannon pod fitted with a 27mm Mauser cannon.

*

The two Klimov turboshafts on Bock’s Mi-24 had begun to reach optimum power and he was about to engage the main rotor when the helicopter to his right, belonging to his wingman, exploded. He looked up from his instruments and saw rockets streaking towards other Mi-24. Bock could see four enemy aircraft closing in at speed. For a moment he wondered why none of the FOB’s defences were firing, before engaging the main rotor.

“Come on. Come on.” He muttered as the blades slowly spun up.

While his Mi-24 was on the ground he felt like a sitting duck. A helicopter ahead of him managed to get airborne and turned away south. Bock watched it for a moment with envy. His envy dissipated as he saw an air-to-air missile explode above the Mi-24’s main rotor. Like the proverbial train crash, he could not look away and watched as rotor blades flew off and the helicopter fell like a leaf out of the sky. Disappearing behind some trees. Bock turned back to his own predicament, not seeing the fireball rising over the forest. He was now trapped. If Bock stayed where he was, there was a good chance his helicopter would be destroyed on the ground, but if he took off, he might well be shot down. He chose a compromise – Bock applied just enough power to lift off the ground and began to fast air taxi towards the edge of the FOB.

Bock’s helicopter was barely clear of the landing area of the FOB when two of the Alpha Jets passed over, releasing a pair of BL755s each. Most of the remaining Mi-24 and many supporting vehicles exploded or were badly damaged. Plus, the men, they died easily, most being cut down in the open.

***

[1] Division order of battle:

9e Division d'Infanterie de Marine
- 9e Régiment de Commande-ment et de Soutien
- 9e Compagnie Antichar: VCAC
- 1er Régiment Blindé d'Infanterie de Marine: AMX-30B2 Brenus
- Régiment d'Infanterie-Chars de Marine: ERC-90, VAB/HOT
- 1er Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine: ERC-90, VAB/HOT
- 2e Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine: VAB
- 3e Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine: VAB
- 11e Régiment d’Infanterie de Marine (Réserve): VAB
- 11e Régiment d’Artillerie de Marine: LG1 105mm towed
- 6e Régiment d’Artillerie de Marine (Réserve): LG1 105mm towed
- 14e Régiment du Genie

[2] Brigade order of battle:

6th Marine Expeditionary Brigade
6th Marine Regiment
- 1/6 Marines
- 2/6 Marines
- 3/6 Marines
2/10 Marines (+)
- D Btry/2/10 Marines: M777
- E Btry/2/10 Marines: M777
- F Btry/2/10 Marines: M777
- D Btry/2/11 Marines: M777
- J Btry/4/10 Marines: M109A6
- M Btry/4/10 Marines: M109A6
- P Btry/5/10 Marines: M142
A Co./2nd Tank Battalion (+)
- Platoon/B Co./2nd Tank Battalion
B Co./8th Tank Battalion (+): M1A1
C Co./2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion (+): AAVP-7A1
- X3 Platoon/D Co./2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion
C Co/2nd Light Armored Transport Battalion: LAV-P
B Co./4th Light Armored Transport Battalion: LAV-P
E Co./2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion (+): LAV-25, LAV-AT, LAV-AD
- X3 Platoon/A Co/2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion
D Co/2nd Reconnaissance Battalion
B Co./2nd Combat Engineer Battalion (+)
- Platoon/A Co./2nd Combat Engineer Battalion
Combat Logistics Battalion 24
Combat Logistics Battalion 26

[3] Per Kaufmann and Jurga, Alexandroupolis had a ring of defences.

[4] See Sørensen, Kim Hartvig, The Centurion in Danish Service (Camberley 2024), ps.77-80.

[5] Brigade order of battle before the reorganisation:

3rd Zealand Brigade
- 3rd Sjællandske Armoured Regiment :
-- A (Danske Livregiment) Squadron: Leopard 2A5DK
-- B (Danske Livregiment) Squadron: Stridsvagn 121
-- C (Gardehusarregimentet): Stridsvagn 121
-- D (Gardehusarregimentet): Leopard 2A5DK
- 3rd Sjællandske Mechanised Infantry Battalion:
-- A (Sjællandske Livregiment): CV9035DK
-- B (Sjællandske Livregiment): CV9035DK
-- C (Gardehusarregimentet): CV9035DK
-- 1st (Centurion) Squadron, Gardehusarregimentet: Stridsvagn 104
-- Support Company: M125, TOW on Land Rover
- 2nd/3rd Battalion, Den Kongelige Livgarde:
-- D Company: CV9035DK
-- E Company: CV9035DK
-- G Company: CV9035DK
-- 2nd (Centurion) Squadron: Stridsvagn 104:
-- Support Company: M125, TOW on Land Rover
- Composite Artillery Battalion: M109A3/ M114/39
- 4th Battalion, Danske Livregiment (Mot. Infantry)
- Armoured Engineer Company: M113, Centurion AVLB
- Logistic Battalion
- Military Police Detachment

[6] Planned changes to above orbat, anything not mentioned would stay the same:

- 3rd Sjællandske Mechanised Infantry Battalion:
-- A (Sjællandske Livregiment): CV9035DK
-- B (Sjællandske Livregiment): CV9035DK
-- C (Gardehusarregimentet): CV9035DK
-- 3rd (Centurion) Squadron: Stridsvagn 104
-- Support Company: M125, TOW on Land Rover
- 1st Battalion, Sjællandske Livregiment:
-- A Company: CV9035DK
-- B Company: CV9035DK
-- C Company: CV9035DK
-- 4th (Centurion) Squadron: Stridsvagn 104
-- Support Company: M125, TOW on Land Rover
- 2nd Battalion, Den Kongelige Livgarde:
-- D Company: CV9035DK
-- E Company: CV9035DK
-- F Company: M113
-- 1st (Centurion) Squadron, Gardehusarregimentet: Centurion Mk.5/2DK
-- Support Company: M125, TOW on Land Rover
- 3rd Battalion, Den Kongelige Livgarde:
-- G Company: CV9035DK
-- H Company: CV9035DK
-- I Company: M113
-- 2nd (Centurion) Squadron: Stridsvagn 104
-- Support Company: M125, TOW on Land Rover
- 4th Battalion, Danske Livregiment
-- J Company:
-- K Company:
-- L Company:
-- 3rd (Centurion) Squadron: Centurion Mk.5/2DK
-- Support Company: M125, TOW on Land Rover

[7] An ELINT/SIGINT variant of the BAe.125 Series 800 was a real design study by BAe Warton, called the P.134. See Gibson, Chris ‘They Also Serve – RAF Reconnaissance and Support Projects Since 1945’ (Manchester 2024), p.327, with a line drawing on p.326. Interestingly, in @ the ROKAF uses a SIGINT variant of the Hawker 800XP, designated the RC-800.

[Bernard Woolley]

Accompanying Pictures

[Eaglenine2]

1er Régiment Blindé d'Infanterie de Marine is a new formation?

[Bernard Woolley]

Nope. It’s a historical formation. It’s now a light armoured regiment.

[Eaglenine2]

I thought the 9e Division d'Infanterie de Marine had only Régiment d'Infanterie-Chars de Marine and 1er Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine.

[Bernard Woolley]

Not as far as I know. The division’s orbat was taken from here.

[Eaglenine2]

Not as far as I know. The division’s orbat was taken from here.

The orbat I got that from was the old cold war era one.

[jemhouston]

Thank you, makes for a fun weekend.

[Jotun]

First of all, thank you for the new chapter, I was happy to contribute that somewhat snarky part.

Kapitän Bock should be Hauptmann Bock. The officer ranks in the NVA were similar to the Bundeswehr ranks, the exception being the Unterleutnant..
That aside, that man is burning several lifetimes of luck. That sequence was especially well-written. I was happy to see some Alpha Jets in action and not just in reports or throwaway sentences.
I wonder what is going to replace them…the F24/25 looks good.


Reinforcements arriving in Turkey, and not exactly hobby soldiers.

The scene with the defenders of the city and the supply drop was a nice touch.

Good to see the Danes are gearing up for the invasion of Sjælland, aaaand we have another tank girl. Some secret fascination of yours?


I am juggling a few ideas for further contributions, and I have a question for everybody, since I am anything BUT a MINT guy. What would be the conceivable short term consequences of the data Schumacher has given NATO? Software updates for EW equipment? Presictable vectors of missile attacks? And when would those consequences make an appearance?

[James1978]

Not as far as I know. The division’s orbat was taken from here.

The orbat I got that from was the old cold war era one.

The 9e Division d'Infanterie de Marine grew in TLWverse.
I scattered a battalion here and a battalion there to grow the French Army a little bit.

[James1978]

Good chapter!

It was nice to see some focus on Greece and Turkey.

I was wondering if the 9e Division d'Infanterie de Marine would go to LANDSOUTHCENT or if the French would try to send it to support their forces around the Bab-el-Mandeb.

So early on the Luftwaffe was using their Alpha Jets as semi-independent scout hunters? I always thought they were more of a dedicated CAS force?

Keep up the good work!

[Bernard Woolley]

Thank you, makes for a fun weekend.

You’re very welcome.

First of all, thank you for the new chapter, I was happy to contribute that somewhat snarky part.

Your help was very much appreciated.

Kapitän Bock should be Hauptmann Bock. The officer ranks in the NVA were similar to the Bundeswehr ranks, the exception being the Unterleutnant..

Bugger! Bugger! Bugger! Stupid idiotic mistake!

That aside, that man is burning several lifetimes of luck. That sequence was especially well-written. I was happy to see some Alpha Jets in action and not just in reports or throwaway sentences.
I wonder what is going to replace them…the F24/25 looks good.

If he had any luck, it would be bad. One of the Alpha Jets’ war roles was anti-helicopter missions. The F-24 could be a potential replacement, though it would be an expensive one. Might the TLW Luftwaffe be in the market for a new trainer to replace the Alpha Jet? You know, the Hawk is still in production…

Reinforcements arriving in Turkey, and not exactly hobby soldiers.

The marines will help hold the line till heavier equipped reinforcements arrive.

The scene with the defenders of the city and the supply drop was a nice touch.

I have this siege as being the Bastogne of the Third World War. Whether they’re relieve or not…

Good to see the Danes are gearing up for the invasion of Sjælland, aaaand we have another tank girl. Some secret fascination of yours?

I’ve been reading a history of the Centurion in Danish service. The officer in question is named after two of the first women to pioneer serving in tanks.

I am juggling a few ideas for further contributions, and I have a question for everybody, since I am anything BUT a MINT guy. What would be the conceivable short term consequences of the data Schumacher has given NATO? Software updates for EW equipment? Presictable vectors of missile attacks? And when would those consequences make an appearance?

Updates to EW equipment would certainly be amongst the first things that would happen. I’m not sure about the other stuff. I’m not knowledgeable enough in that area to say.

[Bernard Woolley]

Good chapter!

Thanks very much.

It was nice to see some focus on Greece and Turkey.

I’m always keen to include them.

I was wondering if the 9e Division d'Infanterie de Marine would go to LANDSOUTHCENT or if the French would try to send it to support their forces around the Bab-el-Mandeb.

The division was part of the amphibious reserve. So, NATO commitments come first.

So early on the Luftwaffe was using their Alpha Jets as semi-independent scout hunters? I always thought they were more of a dedicated CAS force?

They were using them in both roles. Hence the heavy losses.

Keep up the good work!

Will do my best!

[James1978]

Kapitän Bock should be Hauptmann Bock. The officer ranks in the NVA were similar to the Bundeswehr ranks, the exception being the Unterleutnant..
That aside, that man is burning several lifetimes of luck. That sequence was especially well-written. I was happy to see some Alpha Jets in action and not just in reports or throwaway sentences.
I wonder what is going to replace them…the F24/25 looks good.

Hmm. That raises an interesting question. For those air forces that maintain a light attack force - what replaces them? F-24 is a lot of aircraft to replace an affordable light attack force, and F-25 is probably more of a Tornado replacement.
What Euro/multi-national trainer/light attack aircraft in development at this time in TLWverse?

I am juggling a few ideas for further contributions, and I have a question for everybody, since I am anything BUT a MINT guy. What would be the conceivable short term consequences of the data Schumacher has given NATO? Software updates for EW equipment? Presictable vectors of missile attacks? And when would those consequences make an appearance?

Years ago, I briefly worked with a guy whose job when he was in the USAF was maintaining jamming pods. To hear him tell it, they could adapt to a new threat within a few days if given sufficient data.

My guess would be the data gets passed to the technical intelligence folks who have the knowledge to get further than "OH WOW!" and really pick it apart to see what is useful and what did we already steal years ago. Some of it might be pre-war old news, some of it might be stuff we figured out on D+10. By D+30, there probably aren't a lot of party tricks that haven't been seen already on both sides*. Thought I'd make an exception for homeland PVO and nuclear systems/variants. Then the defense contractors get brought in. Now if they can pair the complete tech manual with a captured system, that's a different story.

The real value is probably once the counter-intelligence/internal security folks start to exploit the intel and roll up networks and sleepers.


* As an example, the US has captured at least one nearly intact Tu-22M4, and several Tu-95s and Tu-160s went down over Canada. I imagine the relevant folks have a lot to do just with those.

[James1978]

What are the amphibious ships that carried 6th MEB up to once the Marines are ashore?

If they go north, and things are stable enough in Norway, AFNORTH could float 4th MEB in addition to 2nd MEB. And that opens up options for retaking Zealand.
Speaking of Zealand, did the WP resupply convoy that got through bring enough explosives to wreck the Øresund Bridge and/or Drogden Tunnel?
And for some reason I remembered the Soviets on Zealand having T-90s.

[Bernard Woolley]

AFAIK the following advanced trainers would be in production, or development:

BAE Hawk, with the Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) being in production. Would West Germany buy the successful rival to the Alpha Jet? The AJT would be capable of both the training and light attack mission.

Aermacchi M-346 Master, first flew in @ in 2004, so might well be in the early part of its development. Might be slightly different, as there would be no co-development with Yak.

KAI T-50 Golden Eagle, the TA-50 would certainly fit the bill. Might be considered a bit ‘left-field’ to buy a South Korean design. But, license production in Europe might be possible.

I guess a new ‘clean-sheet’ design, or an Alpha Jet ‘New Generation’ might also be options.

[James1978]

AFAIK the following advanced trainers would be in production, or development:
. . .

Aermacchi M-346 Master, first flew in @ in 2004, so might well be in the early part of its development. Might be slightly different, as there would be no co-development with Yak.

. . .

Might the EADS Mako be out there instead of the M-346? In @, it was a Dornier and Aermacchi program until Aermacchi dropped out in 1994.
PS, check your mail.

[Matt Wiser]

Whoo-hoo! It lives! BZ as usual, and so on to business at hand:

Good to see reinforcements landing in Greece, and wouldn't be surprised if this is where 38th ID winds up deploying.

NATO as a whole will be very interested in what this defector has to offer.

Like it or not, the NKs are adapting. Though any day without any real gains will be viewed as a failure by the buffon-headed Kim, and his generals will be told "Produce, or else." He, like the autocrat in Baghdad, and Stalin in WW II, will start micromanaging the battle, much to the despair of his generals.

Edirne can be resupplied by air, but the Soviets and their lackeys will have air defense that the NVN at Khe Sanh would have drooled to have.

That EG pilot's running out of lives!

Swedes and Danes getting ready for Zealand...

Nice job once again, and get cracking on 376!

[Cihatari]

Hauptmann Günter Bock clearly has domestic feline dna.

He will only stop respawning after the 9th time...

As for the rest. It sure looks like the Korean front is resembling the original Korean War, including hand to hand combat. Will there be a cameo appearance from a certain mobile army surgical hospital? (Probably playing it straight and focused.)

Hard times in Thrace. Hope they can hold out.

[Jotun]

Kapitän Bock should be Hauptmann Bock. The officer ranks in the NVA were similar to the Bundeswehr ranks, the exception being the Unterleutnant..
That aside, that man is burning several lifetimes of luck. That sequence was especially well-written. I was happy to see some Alpha Jets in action and not just in reports or throwaway sentences.
I wonder what is going to replace them…the F24/25 looks good.

Hmm. That raises an interesting question. For those air forces that maintain a light attack force - what replaces them? F-24 is a lot of aircraft to replace an affordable light attack force, and F-25 is probably more of a Tornado replacement.
What Euro/multi-national trainer/light attack aircraft in development at this time in TLWverse?

I am juggling a few ideas for further contributions, and I have a question for everybody, since I am anything BUT a MINT guy. What would be the conceivable short term consequences of the data Schumacher has given NATO? Software updates for EW equipment? Presictable vectors of missile attacks? And when would those consequences make an appearance?

Years ago, I briefly worked with a guy whose job when he was in the USAF was maintaining jamming pods. To hear him tell it, they could adapt to a new threat within a few days if given sufficient data.

My guess would be the data gets passed to the technical intelligence folks who have the knowledge to get further than "OH WOW!" and really pick it apart to see what is useful and what did we already steal years ago. Some of it might be pre-war old news, some of it might be stuff we figured out on D+10. By D+30, there probably aren't a lot of party tricks that haven't been seen already on both sides*. Thought I'd make an exception for homeland PVO and nuclear systems/variants. Then the defense contractors get brought in. Now if they can pair the complete tech manual with a captured system, that's a different story.

The real value is probably once the counter-intelligence/internal security folks start to exploit the intel and roll up networks and sleepers.


* As an example, the US has captured at least one nearly intact Tu-22M4, and several Tu-95s and Tu-160s went down over Canada. I imagine the relevant folks have a lot to do just with those.

In my headcanon, Gazprom-Gerd is going to pamper the Bundeswehr in case of a more or less successful end of the war, and giving them a SOTA STOVL aircraft to replace the damn toy planes would be fitting.

And thank you for the answer to my question. It has helped a lot.